War in Ukraine

Another report of possible chemical agents being used. Possibly from a drone. Test run? This comes after Putin puts “The Butcher of Siberia” in charge of the war. Russia used chemical warfare previously when he was in charge of the Syrian conflict.

 

At best this is a half truth but the way it is laid out I think the tweet is a lie. USAID paid for 1333 Starlink terminals and SpaceX donated another 3667 for an even 5,000 terminals.

SpaceX and USAID deliver 5,000 Starlink internet terminals to Ukraine

 

Perhaps the US is only be obviously passive.

 

Thank you. Didn't know about the split.

 

Russia is just fishing for an excuse that the west will accept.

 

Or the one least likely to result in Russians turning on Putin.

His problem is you can't hide from the 21st Century. I'd say his people are in for a rude awakening but there's enough Russians outside of Russia supporting their actions that I don't know that even confronted with dead bodies would they turn on him.

 

Good. Let her talk herself out of a job this fall. The people who have been supporting her to this point are overwhelmingly in favor of doing more for Ukraine, not less, though the degree varies, of course. Speaking for self, I’m a single-issue voter this fall. Whoever promises me the most meaningful action on defeating Russia gets my vote.

 

Short of nukes give him what he wants

 

No worries. I get bothered by the half-truths and fat out falsehoods that are so easy to peddle online. I think we need to get a handle on social media but I’m not sure what the solution would be.

 

What you did works and there's so many different posters. After you posted then I saw another one that was more detailed & showed your numbers. I should've picked a better example but that's what had popped up on my feed.

Twitter is a cesspool, though. Maybe I need to post less from there...it's just faster than copy/pasting.

 

Cnn live...they even mined the fields. But sure if they can't farm the land & more starve that's....the fault of the US (the view from Russia supporters, China, etc)

"Zelensky: Withdrawing Russian forces left mines scattered "everywhere"

From CNN’s Mariya Knight and Jen Deaton

In a nightly address to the nation on Monday, Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky said that Russian troops retreating from parts of northern Ukraine had deliberately left thousands of mines in their wake, in what he considered a “war crime."

In those areas, “tens if not hundreds of thousands” of unexploded ordnance had been left behind, he said, adding that teams are working to clear these “dangerous items.”

The “invaders left mines everywhere," including in homes, on streets and in fields, he added.

“They deliberately did everything to ensure that the return to these areas after de-occupation was as dangerous as possible. Due to the actions of the Russian army, our territory today is one of the most contaminated by mines in the world," Zelensky said."

 

Cnn live

"At Monday's United Nations Security Council (UNSC) meeting, the director of UN Women said the organization is increasingly hearing of rape and sexual violence being committed in Ukraine. Sima Bahous told the meeting the allegations "must be independently investigated to ensure justice and accountability."

Bahous added that the risk of human trafficking is increasing as the situation becomes more desperate, with young women and unaccompanied teenagers particularly at risk."

 

Cnn live

"Russian military-linked hackers target Ukrainian power company, investigators say

From CNN's Sean Lyngaas

A Russian military-linked hacking group has attempted to infiltrate Ukrainian power substations and deploy malicious code capable of cutting the power, Ukrainian government officials and private investigators said Tuesday.

The cyberattack appears to have been thwarted — the Ukrainian government Computer Emergency Response Team said it had prevented the attackers from “carrying out [their] malicious intent.”
....

The US Cybersecurity and Infrastructure Security Agency was working closely with Ukrainian officials to understand the incident and share any relevant information to protect US infrastructure, CISA Director Jen Easterly tweeted Tuesday."

 

"Obama says Putin acting in newly "reckless" manner

From CNN's Shania Shelton

Russian President Vladimir Putin is acting in a newly reckless manner with the invasion of Ukraine, former US President Barack Obama said in an interview that aired Tuesday on NBC’s “Today” show.

“Putin has always been ruthless against his own people as well as others. He has always been somebody who's wrapped up in this twisted, distorted sense of grievance and ethnic nationalism,” Obama said. “That part of Putin, I think, has always been there. What we've seen with the invasion of Ukraine is him being reckless in a way that you might not have anticipated eight, 10 years ago, but the danger was always there.”

The former president declined to directly answer a question about what, in hindsight, he would have done differently while in office, including when Russia annexed Crimea in 2014.

Instead, he said it’s important to “not take our own democracy for granted” and to “stand for and align ourselves with those who believe in freedom and independence.”"

 

Maybe not chemical.

 

There were prior reports of white phosphorus being used so that makes sense. So I know that too is considered banned or something. At the risk of sounding stupid but just trying to learn, chemical weapons are just materials listed as chemicals on a list? What's the differentiation? Obviously things like mustard gas are chemical. But what makes phosphorus NOT a chemical?

 

Well, for that matter, gunpowder is also a chemical. I think what is specifically banned is blister agents, nerve agents, choking agents, etc. Sometimes those are collectively referred to as “chemical weapons.”

To clarify one other matter, my understanding is that WP/RP is not banned per se (we use it regularly). It matters how these munitions are used. When it’s used as an obscurant (smoke screen), that’s fine. When we use it to mark targets for aircraft, that’s fine. Even using it to deliberately set fire to enemy assets, such as a fuel depot, is fine as far as I understand. I think what you can’t do is specifically target personnel with it. And, of course, that’s where it gets squishy, because how do you set an enemy fuel depot on fire while not burning enemy personnel to death?